Truck for handling barrels



Sept. 10, 1935. v. E. ROGERS 2,014,057

TRUCK FOR HANDLING BARRELS Filed March 27, 1954 Patented Sept. 10, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to barrel trucks, and among other objects, aims to provide an improved barrel truck which will handle barrels v or kegs of various sizes, and will hold them so 5 securely that they cannot fall off the truck and cause accidents.

In the accompanying drawing illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention,-

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the barrel truck,

10 showing a barrel in dotted lines;

' Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a section on line 44 of Fig. l, but on a larger scale.

15 Referring particularly to the drawing, there is shown an improved barrel truck comprising a handle 5, a pair of wheels 6 mounted on a common axle I secured by a bearing 8 to the lower end of the handle and a leg 9 secured to the ban- 2O dle at an intermediate point and adapted to cooperate with the wheels 6 to support the load when the handle is in a horizontal position.

Secured to the lower portion of the handle is a cradle H] which comprises two steel arms rig- 25 idly secured at their upper ends on either side of the handle 5 as shown at H. The two steel arms are secured together by means of an arcu ate brace l2, which is rigidly mounted on the lower extremity of the handle 5, the outer ends of the brace I2 being secured to the under sides of the cradle arms. Preferably, the lower extremities of the cradle arms I0 are bent outwardly substantially at right angles, as indicated at ll'lai, and a pair of re-enforcing straps iii are 35 preferably interposed between the free ends of the brace l2 and the cradle arms I0, as shown in Fig. 1, said re-enforcing straps also being bent at right angles, as shown at Mia, and extending beyond the ends of the right angle extensions 40 Illa. The outer edges of the extensions 13a may be beveled on the under side so as to provide prongs which may be inserted underneath the barrel or keg without any substantial resistance. The extensions i311 and ma. are preferably welded 45 together so as to form a pair of unitary arms or prongs for supporting a barrel or keg' in the manner illustrated in Fig. 1.

Slidably mounted on the handle at an intermediate point is a bracket or sleeve M which is 50 securely held in adjusted positions between the two limits of movement determined by the opposite sides of the leg 9. The leg 9 thus prevents the slide M from moving beyond the desired limits. The slidable sleeve I4 is preferably sub- 55 stantially U-shaped in cross section, as shown in Fig. 4, and is sufiiciently long to provide a pair of projecting ears Ma, which have alined perforations to receive a pivot bolt it, on which a barrel rest i6 is pivoted. The barrel rest [6 is arcuate longitudinally and is mounted on the 5 pivot bolt l5 by means of a U-shaped bracket I1, whose arms are also perforated to receive the pivot bolt 55, and whose intermediate portion is riveted to the barrel rest. The barrel rest 16 is so mounted as to be freely oscillatable on the pivot bolt l5 and thus may adjust itself to barrels of diiferent sizes and shapes. The curvature of the barrel rest 50 is substantially the same as the curvature of the brace l2, which also provides a barrel rest at the lower end of the handle, as will be understood from Fig. l.

Projecting from opposite faces of the slidable member M are a pair of bosses it having screwthreaded studs Iii extending outwardly. A pair of hooks 20 are pivotally mounted on the studs 20 I9 and hence are swingable on opposite sides of the handle 5. A pair of nuts 2! hold the hooks 20 on the studs 19, said hooks having sufiiciently large perforations at their pivot-ends to swing freely about the studs M as axes. A rod 22 con- 25 nects the two hooks together so as to force them to swing in unison and said rod also serves as a stop to prevent the hooks 20 from falling down below the axis on which they swing when not in use.

As tightening of the nut 23, which is on the pivot bolt l5, would tend to draw the ears Ida. together and thus clamp the handle 5 and prevent free movement of the slidable member l4 along the handle, a suitable spacer is interposed between the ears Ma, said spacer being preferably a U-shaped clip 2%, Whose arms are contiguous to the ears Ma and which are perforated to permit the pivot bolt it to pass through them. The clip 2 5 may have a broad bearing face so as to slide along one side of the handle 5 without injury to the handle. Obviously, the construction is such that the hooks 20, the barrel rest it and the slidable member M with its associated parts may all be removed from the handle 5 and may be replaced without the trouble of removing the leg 9.

The means for securing the slidable member M in adjusted positions comprises a spring plunger 25, slidably mounted in a boss 26, which is removably mounted on the slidable member M. The boss 25 not only has a slot to receive the plunger 25, but is also hollowed out to provide a housing for a coil spring 27, which tends to project the plunger 25 inwardly against the handle 5. The slidable member I 4 has a perforation 28 to permit the plunger 25 to pass through it and to engage one of a series of notches or slots 29 formed in a strap 30 secured to the under side of the handle 5. The plunger 25 preferably has a finger opening 3| to permit the operator to withdraw it against the tension of spring 21, whereupon the slidable member l4 may be moved up or down until the books 20 are properly positioned to engage the chime of the barrel, as will be understood from Fig. 1.

The described construction provides a truck which will carry barrels weighing as much as 600 lbs., and also small kegs. It securely grips a barrel so that there is no likelihood of the operator getting injured. Both metal and wooden barrels and kegs are handled with equal ease. In adjusting the barrel-gripping device, the operator places the hooks over the chime of the bar rel, pulls outwardly on the plunger to release the lock and then moves the slide into the position which assures effective gripping. Another feature of the construction is that the hooks 28 are so shaped that they are self-adjustable to different thicknesses of chimes, that is, they will automatically adjust themselves to any chime from one-fourth inch to two inches in thickness. The only adjustment necessary is the slide adjustment for difierent heights of barrels and kegs.

Obviously, the present invention may be embodied in various constructions other than the one selected for illustration.

Having described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A barrel truck comprising, in combination, a handle; means for supporting a barrel on the handle; a pair of wheels for supporting the handle; a slide movable longitudinally of the handle; means to secure the slide against movement on the handle; a barrel rest pivotally mounted on the slide; and a hook pivoted on the slide and adapted to engage a barrel chime with its outer end. 2. A barrel truck comprising, in combination, a truck having means for supporting a barrel; a slide movable longitudinally of the truck; a pair of spaced barrel-gripping hooks pivoted to the slide; a barrel rest mounted on the slide and adapted to adjust itself angularly to barrels of diiferent sizes and shapes; a spring-pressed plunger slidable on the slide and adapted to be projected inwardly, the outer end being manually withdrawable; and means on the truck adapted to co-operate with the plunger to lock the slide in various adjusted positions on the truck.

3. A barrel truck comprising, in combination, a truck having means for engaging the lower end and the side of a barrel to support the same; a slide movable along a handle forming a part of the truck; co-operating manually controlled means on the handle and slide giving step-bystep adjustment of the slide; a hook pivoted on the slide to engage a barrel chime and a barrel rest pivoted on the slide to engage the side of a barrel near its top.

4. A barrel truck comprising, in combination, a frame; a pair of wheels for supporting the frame; means for supporting a barrel on the frame; and means for holding a barrel on the frame when supported by said supporting means; said barrel-holding means comprising a member adjustably secured to the frame, a barrel rest pivotally attached to said member and a pair of hooks pivoted on said member and adapted to engage the chime of a barrel supported on the truck.

VICTOR E. ROGERS. 

